American Fisheries Society Honors Friends for Aquatic Conservation

For our dedication to improving aquatic habitat, Friends of the Chicago River received the President’s Fishery Conservation Award at the 2022 American Fisheries Society (AFS) annual meeting in Spokane, Washington this week. The prestigious award recognizes singular accomplishments or long-term contributions that advance aquatic resource conservation at a regional or local level.

“We congratulate Friends of the Chicago River for their dedication to improving aquatic habitat for the benefit of both fish and people. They set a wonderful example of what dedicated environmental professionals and volunteers can accomplish, and we are pleased to name them the recipients of the 2022 AFS President’s Fishery Conservation Award,” said Leanne Roulson, F-PC, president of the AFS.

 The AFS highlighted some of Friends’ most celebrated aquatic habitat improvement projects, including the innovative fish hotel which inspired the creation of The Jetty in 2015 at the Chicago Riverwalk. The AFS also cited Friends’ installation of thousands of native plants to help restore hundreds of acres of riverbank and improve water quality, as well as our dam removal projects that opened more than 50 miles of upstream habitat for both fish and recreational paddlers.